A/N: I decided when writing these chapters that I'm going to just summarize the girls poems, mostly because they're essentially the same poems from the game. I'm assuming that anyone reading this fic is likely already familiar with the game and has read the poems. If you haven't, then there should probably be copies of the poems online somewhere. However, considering that Arin's character is, obviously, not in the canon game, I decided that I'd still go ahead and add a few poems for him. I've also decided to alter a few of the special scenes with Natsuki and Yuri, to keep from following to closely with the game's original script. That said, since this fic does sort of follow the plotline of the game, it will contain spoilers for the game.)
Chapter 2: Conflict, Comic Books and Critiques.
Dan had found it simultaneous easier and harder to write a poem than he realized. Sure, he admitted, he had experience when it came to song writing, but he'd written all of his songs for himself, based on whatever thoughts and feelings in his own head at the moment. But, this time, it was different-this time he wanted to write a poem that would impress one of his new club-mates.
But, which one should he pick, he wondered, and what kind of poem would impress them the most? Where was he even supposed to begin?
Idly, he looked over a small blue notebook laying on his desk. He supposed that he could always abandon the idea of actually trying to write his poems toward any one particular person, and just share some of the song lyrics he'd written.
But, that felt kind of like cheating, didn't it?
In an instant, a light bulb flashed in his mind, as he opened another notebook. He thought of each of the club members as he scribbled down a series of words on a scrap piece of paper.
He figured that Sayori would probably invoked feelings of happiness and romance. Yet, he thought as he wrote down a few more words, with the way she'd been acting occasionally distant lately, it was likely she'd also be drawn to words that invoked more sadness than anything else. Perhaps he could use this to subtly bring up his recent concern for her wellbeing without making it feel like she was being put on the spot.
Natsuki, he thought, was very interested in cute and simple words, even if she didn't like to admit it. Strangely, though, he found the process of thinking up words that were both simple and cute to be very difficult, and he wasn't able to come up as many words that would appeal to her. Hell, he laughed, he even had to resort to making up words like "doki-doki" and "boop".
In comparison, Yuri posed a similar, but different set of challenges. While it was easy for him to think of concepts that would appeal to her-basically anything that seemed to touch on the more macabre and deep-it still didn't feel enough. He needed to be more complex and use bigger, more intellectual words. And finding those types of words proved to be difficult.
Arin? This one seemed to be more challenging than any of the others. Sure, from what Sayori and the others had mentioned yesterday, Arin seemed, like Natsuki, very much into cute and girly things, much to Dan's surprise. And yet, like Sayori, he felt that there was something underneath the surface that Arin wanted to talk about, and he wondered if maybe discussing their poems would be an opportunity to get that off his chest.
As for Monika; Dan was sure that trying to impress her was a futile effort. She was just too smart, sophisticated and creative. Anything wrote was bound to look like it was written by a seventh-grader when compared to the caliber of writing that she was capable of. Frankly, he'd be amazed if Monika didn't laugh in his face when she read his poem. Besides, he wasn't sure that he could think of any words that would seem fitting enough to her, anyways.
Now that he had a handful of words for everyone written down, he was faced with the tricky part. He ripped out the page, cutting the words into little scraps of paper and taping them to a dartboard hanging from his bedroom wall. Closing his eyes, he threw a dart at the board, hoping to at least hit something. Once the dart managed to hit a word, he'd take it down, setting it aside to be used later. After he'd gotten what felt like enough words, he sat down and began arranging them in a way that he felt would string together a coherent poem. Which, he admitted, with the random assortment of words he'd ended up with, was going to be a difficult enough task as it was.
Still, he'd managed to scrape up what was a, if not decent, at least readable poem. And, he was prepared to show it to the others at the meeting tomorrow, regardless of what their criticisms of it might be. He just hoped that at least one of them liked it.
Sayori had over slept, so Dan had found himself walking to school alone, again. However, that said, the rest of the day went by fairly quietly, and before he knew it, it was time to go to the club room again.
Upon entering, He noticed that most of the club members already appeared to be there. Sayori was sitting at her desk, writing something on a piece of paper, while Yuri sat at another desk, her nose buried deep in a book, seemingly unaware of the world around here. Arin sat at yet another desk, drawing on a piece of paper while talking with a very clearly interested and fascinated Natsuki. Monika sat at yet a third desk, seemingly watching over the others. She perked up, smiling as she stood up and greeted him.
"Hi, Danny," she said sweetly, "It's good to see you back here. I'm glad to see that we didn't scare you off, yesterday. Seeing how you were on the fence about joining yesterday, I was a little worried that you'd changed your mind."
"Eh," Dan replied casually with a shrug, " I mean, after you guys were so nice to me and everything. And, I did say I'd join, and I'm not usually the type of guy who really likes breaking promises, if I can help it."
"Well," Monika said, glancing at the clock, "I think we have a little more time before we get to sharing our poems. I'm excited to read what you wrote!"
"Yeah," Dan joked, though more to mask his nervousness than anything else, "I can't wait to read what I wrote ,either."
Monika gave him a puzzled look before shrugging dismissively with a giggle and returning to her desk. He barely had a moment to sit down before he found himself being approached by Yuri.
"Um..."she said, absently playing with the cuff of her jacket "I'd just like to thank you for deciding to stay with us. I know it seemed like we didn't give you much of an option. I just hope that this isn't too overwhelming or anything."
"Oh, yeah!" Sayori said, "Even if he's a bit scatterbrained, Danny's really a total sweetheart! He even helps me with things like my homework without me even asking him to! He wouldn't bail on this club!"
Natsuki, having noticed that Dan in the club room, now turned her attention toward him. She leaned over his desk, her pink eyes glaring at him with a threatening sharpness that almost made him subconsciously lean back in his chair.
"C'mon," she said, "Why should we cut him any slack. It's not like he wanted to join or anything. Sayori literally had to bribe him to get him to show up."
"Hey," Dan protested, "At least I showed up today, right? That should prove that I at least sort of want to be here. I have Sayori to vouch for me on that."
"Yeah, yeah," Natsuki replied, waving her hand , "Whatever. Look, I don't know if you just joined so you could hang out and flirt with all us. But, if you're not gonna take this seriously, then you better walk on outta here."
Dan once more found himself at a loss for words. Sure, he admitted, part of his reasons for joining the club had been to hang out. But, there was a small part of him that was just as serious about expanding his horizons than he was just hanging out.
Then again, he thought, there was yet a third part that almost felt as if he were cosmically compelled to join this club, and that it was like he was on one of those escalators at the mall. He was just standing there, allowing something other than himself push him along to some unspoken goal that he wasn't quite aware of as of yet.
Monika now joined the conversation, seeming to magically pop into existence beside Yuri while Dan had looked the other way.
"That's a very bold thing to say," she smirked, "For someone who keeps their manga collection in the clubroom closet."
Natsuki made a startled gasp, taken aback as she glared up at the club president. Dan couldn't help but feel somewhat bad for the poor girl, her mouth moving soundlessly as her already pale face blanched as white as a ghost. She seemed like she was about to cry, caught between saying "Monika" and "Manga".
And yet, Monika kept smiling, seemingly unfazed that she was the cause of the smaller girl's embarrassment. Was this kind of reaction from Natsuki so common that none of them seemed even a little bothered by it anymore?
"M-manga is literature,"Natsuki mumbled, hurriedly rushing toward the closet, flustered.
Arin frowned, as he looked between Natsuki and Monika. His jaw set as his grip tightened around the pencil in his hand. She was super
"Monika," he snapped "That was really rude."
Monika's smile vanished like smoke in the air. Slowly, her head turned toward Arin, looking at him as if she'd just noticed that he was even in the room. Had it been anyone else, this would have probably been the point where anyone else would have apologized. A brief flash of cold fire danced in her eyes, masked only by her placid countenance. Likewise, a fire, this one heated like a thousand suns, blazed in Arin's own brown eyes, unable to be contained behind a mask of calmness.
Dan watched silently as they stared down one another. It was almost like watching a wolf and a fox circling one another, both laying claim to some sort of unseen prey. Was this also normal, he wondered.
"Arin..." Dan breathed half awed, half terrified
"Excuse me?" Monika asked, her voice still pleasant but tinged with an edge.
"You can't just treat everyone in the club like their robots or something," Arin continued, "That's just mean."
The others exchanged glances, seeming to brace themselves. Dan gripped the sides of his desk, leaning back, ready to duck under the desk in the event the resulting explosion lead to any debris flying at his face. Surely, the electricity and heated anger between the two was bound to go nuclear.
"Hey, Danny?," Sayori whispered to him, "Maybe you should go make sure Natsuki's alright. I'll try to see if I can calm Monika and Arin down a little."
Dan nodded as he got up from his desk, slipping away toward the clubroom closet, seemingly unnoticed by either of the dueling club members, or by Yuri, silently fidgeting with the hem of her jacket as she stared down at at the floor.
Stepping out of the tension in the classroom and into the quietness of the closet felt like taking off a heavy winter coat in a warm room. Suddenly, he felt as if he could breathe again, now that he was no longer in the blast radius of Monika and Arin's argument.
"Natsuki?" he called out, gently, hoping not to startle her.
From the corner of the tiny closet, he heard a squeaking sob, like a tiny mouse. Something shifted in the corner of Dan's vision, drawing his attention to the small figured huddled next to a small pile of brightly colored paperback books, staring dejectedly down at her knees.
Her already pink eyes were rimmed with angry red, and her face pink and blotchy, as if she had been trying to rub away tears. Smiling gently, Dan casually sat beside her. He pretended not to notice as she jumped as she noticed him.
"I-idiot," she sniffed loudly, wiping her eyes again, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be out there with the others, making fun of me?"
"Why would I make fun of you?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"'C-cause y'know..." Natsuki mumbled, "I like manga and everything. Every time people find out I like manga, they're just like 'Oh, you still haven't grown out of that yet? Now that you're in high school, you should be more interested in less childish stuff.'"
She growled under her breath, hugging her knees closer to her face.
"Arrgh," she exclaimed through gritted teeth, "It's just so annoying! It just makes me want to punch them in the face!"
Dan chuckled lightly despite himself, leaning back against the wall. The way that she got defensive about how people perceived her cuteness and her interests was almost endearing, he admitted. There was something kind of aspiring about that she was still able to embrace her interests, even though people thought they were silly.
Natsuki glared at him, her eyes narrowing in annoyance.
"What?!" she snapped, "You think it's funny, too?! Geez, don't know why I bothered talking to you in the first place?! Why don't you just go back outside and leave me alone?!"
"No,no," Dan quickly apologized, "I wasn't laughing at you. I just thought that-"
"-That me being able to beat someone up is silly?" she asked, defensively, "You just think that I'm some frail, cutesy little girl, don't you? Well, I'm not! I might look cute, but I could easily kick anyone's ass if they messed with me!"
Geez, Dan sighed, embarrassed. There wasn't any winning with Natsuki, was there? Anything he said, he was bound to get her angry at him again.
"It's not-," He stumbled over his words, becoming more and more flustered as he spoke, "I mean, I totally believe that you could kick my ass!"
He paused, noticing that Natsuki was now looking up at him, curiously, rather than irritated.
"It's just," he said, "That's it's kinda cool that you're still into manga. I mean, you know what you like, and you're not afraid to embrace that, y'know? It kinda feels like, since we got in high school, everyone starts acting like they gotta equate being 'mature' with 'boring'. And I'm just like, fuck that shit, man."
Natsuki listened, a small smirk twitching at the corner of her lips as she nodded in agreement.
"Like," he continued, "Who cares what other people think? Just because you like manga, or think unicorns are the coolest thing on the planet, doesn't mean that you're immature or that you don't take things seriously."
"Yeah," Natsuki agreed distantly "I just wish that Monika and my dad thought that way, too."
"You're dad?"
Dan watched as what small spark of energy the pink-haired girl had managed to regain faded slightly. Self-consciously, Natsuki seemed to fold in on herself once more. Instinctively, Dan found himself scooting closer to her. His hand hovered above her shoulder, uncertain of what to do next. He knew that he could be a kind of affectionate person when he wanted to be. But, he was sure that Natsuki would probably not welcome him being in her personal space like that.
"Yeah," she sighed, "He's super strict about stuff, sometimes. He keeps telling me that I need to act grown up. He won't even let me keep my manga collection at home, y'know? That's why I bring it to the clubroom. But, Monika won't even let me keep it in the clubroom, either! It's like I just can't get a break!
She wiped away a few more frustrated tears that had formed in the corners of her eyes again.
"Arin's the one who managed to talk Monika into letting me keep my manga in the closet," she continued, "I mean, even if he doesn't act like I can defend myself, I feel like Arin's the only one who doesn't treat me like a kid, y'know? "
Dan made a face, shaking his head. Natsuki tilted her head, raising an eyebrow. Was he really disagree with her, when she was pouring her heart out to him? For a brief moment he stepped outside of himself. Why was Natsuki admitting all this all of a sudden, anyways? She had such a sour attitude around him, yesterday. He just assumed that she hated him, and that trying to figure out the reason for her disgust would only lead to him getting a headache.
But then again, he figured, she probably just had a bit of a difficult time warming up to new people.
"Well," He said slowly, "that's obviously not true. I mean, you got me. Beside, I figure you could probably teach me a thing or two about manga."
Natsuki laughed. Much like a light switch turning on, the insecure aura that surrounded her vanished, once more being replaced with the aura of confidence that Dan had seen when she had presented the cupcakes during the meeting yesterday. An idea flashing through her head, she picked up one of the manga laying beside her.
"Here," she said, shoving the book into his hands, "You should totally start with this, then."
The cover of the book had the words "Parfait Girls" written in a cutesy font over the image of four girls with different colored hair in uniforms striking feminine poses. Dan remembered once hearing a type of manga like this described as "exceedingly moe", though he wasn't entirely sure what "moe" actually meant.
"Parfait Girls?" Dan asked, looking suspiciously at the book in his hands. He wasn't entirely sure about it. Judging by the cover and the blurb on the back of the volume, it sounded like it was a sort of slow-burn romance story. The type where the characters did cute things that were meant to evoke 'awws' from the reader, but otherwise lacked much in the way of plot.
"Yeah," Natsuki shrugged, "I know it sounds like it'd be boring. And the first couple of chapters kind of slow and not a lot happens in them. But, that's just to help introduce you to the characters and their personalities, and get you used to the plot. It doesn't really start to pick up until about chapter five or six, when they start going into the character's backstories and stuff."
Natsuki's face was practically glowing as she talked, mentally recalling parts of the story with an eager glee and excitement that glimmered in her whole expression. At the same time, there was a bit of frustration there, as well. It was clear that she wanted to talk in depth about the story, but also didn't want to spoil important bits of the story for him, either.
"I think Minori is my favorite," she said, pointing at a pink-haired girl on the cover, "She's just so unlucky all the time. But, then you kinda feel bad for her when you find out-"
She stopped herself short, covering her mouth before she could leak any important spoilers to him. Meanwhile, Dan had started flipping through the pages, catching brief glimpses of scenes here and there, but nothing that he could piece together that could make a coherent plot, or even so much as provide any potential spoilers.
"Oops!" Natsuki said, "Nevermind. Just forget I said anything, okay? You gotta find that out for yourself."
As Dan finished flipping through the book, he started to hand it back to Natsuki. The petite girl stopped him, however, pushing the book back into his hands.
"You can borrow it," she said, "Besides, how am I even gonna talk about it with you, if you don't even read it?!"
Dan looked between the book and Natsuki again, still somewhat uncertain. This really didn't seem like the genre of literature that he was particularly interested in, and it seemed way out of his demographic, anyways. But, Natsuki seemed excited about it, and had even been nice enough to even consider sharing it with him. So, it would have been rude not to at least try, right?
Besides, he'd decided to give the Literature Club a try when Sayori had first invited him, and that seemed to be turning out well. Well, as well as one day and two of your club members arguing within five minutes of being there could go.
"Are you sure about that?" he asked, "I mean, you're not just being nice because we just totally had a moment together, and you're totally cool with me borrowing this, right?"
Natsuki blushed furiously, looking away from the taller man as she bit the edge of her lip.
"W-what moment?!" she asked, "W-we didn't have a moment! If you tell anyone we had a 'moment', then I'm never gonna let you hear the end of it, you got that?!"
"Got it," Dan laughed with a wink, "If anyone asks, I don't know you, and this never happened."
"Oh," Natsuki added as the two of them got back to their feet, "And don't go blabbing to Arin about the manga, either I don't want him opening his big mouth and spoiling everything for you, like I know he will!"
From where they stood in the closet, it sounded like things had died down a little. But then again, it was likely that it had calmed down for quite a while. Dan wasn't sure how long he and Natsuki had been sitting in the closet. Besides, he added, he couldn't really hear the activities of the clubroom too well from in there, anyways.
"I think," Dan said, daring to peek through the door, "That it might be safe to go back out there. Looks like the worst of it is over."
As the two returned to the classroom, the air that had previously been hot and thick with tension, had now loosened and chilled into something slightly more comfortable, albeit still slightly awkward.
Sayori stood between Monika and Arin, her hands on her hips as she carefully watched them, ready to step in when necessary. However, both Monika and Arin's expressions had softened, having lost the built up anger that resided within them from earlier. They looked like a pair of kids that had gotten caught causing trouble by their parents, and were being lectured to.
"-Look," Arin said, his voice more calm and measured than before as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "It's just-you made Natsuki feel childish about her manga collection. You know that she's sensitive about it. You just really hurt her feelings, y'know?"
Monika looked embarrassed. Sheepishly, she glanced over at Dan, especially embarrassed that she had allowed their newest member to see her acting any less than her best. Again, Dan found himself staring deeply into those emerald eyes. And once again, he found a chill in the very core of his soul. He felt like she was reading him, mentally breaking him down to his smallest parts, analyzing each piece, and rearrange herself to him, accordingly.
"You're right, Arin" she sighed, folding her hands behind her back and bowing, "I was careless, and spoke without thinking. I apologize."
"It's okay," Arin replied, "I totally get it, y'know? I mean, you've known Natsuki a long time, huh? You kind of tend to forget about what's in each others' comfort zones sometimes. Sometimes you just gotta be reminded what you're both cool an not cool with. Right, Dan?"
Now it was Arin's turn to give a knowing look toward the curly-haired man. And, once again it was Dan's turn to over analyze something as simple and innocuous as a look between fellow club members. Like Monika, Arin's eyes seem to see through him, rather than at him. And yet, unlike Monika, his gaze didn't seem as if it were dissecting him like a frog in a biology lab, but rather as a puzzle that needed to be pieced back together.
God, Dan thought to himself, Do I really have a weird fixation on people's eyes, or what?
"Right," he agreed, "I mean, just look at me and Sayori. We've been friends for god knows how long. And, sometimes even we slip up and accidentally say some stupid shit too each other."
"Definitely," Sayori chimed in, "When that happens, you just have to look at them and remind them of your boundaries. But, good friends usually are able to learn from that, and don't always let little things get in the way of their friendship."
Sayori giggled as she tackled Dan's shoulders in a friendly hug. The taller man yelped in surprise, before leaning down and playfully ruffling her hair with a playful grin. Out of the corner of his vision, he swear that he saw Monika make a face, but it passed too briefly for him to know for certain if it was just his imagination or not.
"Well, thank goodness that's settled." Monika said, adopting an officious tone, like conductor leading a marching band "Okay, everyone! It's time to share our poems with each other!"
Dan felt a rock had dropped in the pit of his stomach. Oh right, he remembered, they still had to share their poems. Well, he sighed as he pulled out his notebook, so much for me being in the Literature Club. It was fun while it lasted. Once they saw these poems, they were definitely going to think that he was a terrible writer and kick him out of the club.
Wait, he thought again, why was he so fearful of that in the first place? Joining the club hadn't been his idea in the first place. Had he really gotten that attached to the club literally overnight?
But, he wondered as he looked over at the other five club members, who should he share his poem with first. Carefully, he weighed all of his options, trying to figure out which one of them would be the least likely to use his poem as kindling for the fire to roast him over.
Sighing, he approached Sayori. She at least seemed like she'd try to spare his feelings, even if he didn't want her to. She smiled cheerfully as he handed her poem. Her blue eyes scanned the lines of the notebook as she read. Once more, a knot of nervousness tied itself in his stomach as he watched her expression change, becoming more and more curious and ponderous. Finally, she looked up.
"This is," she said, "Pretty good, Danny!"
"C'mon," he said, hoping to dig a little more of a critique from her, "Be honest with me. It's sucks."
"Not at all," she replied, shaking her head, "I mean, I like the emotion of the poem, and how you mixed a lot of the really cute and simple words with darker undertones. It makes me feel like the subject of the poem is trying to appear one way, but there's always this bit underneath that they know isn't right. You know?"
Was that was he was trying, he wondered? He hadn't even really given much in the way of the poems meaning. He'd really just picked what words sounded cool and worked well together. Or did Sayori manage to apply a sort of personal meaning into her interpretation of the poem?
"Heh," he smirked, "I really just threw stuff together and saw what stuck. I didn't really put that much thought into what it meant. But, I guess that it could mean that, if you looked at it a certain way."
"Right," Sayori agreed, "But, all the same, it also feels a little too...unfocused? Like, it's hard to tell who this poem is written for, y'know?"
Dan sighed, running his fingers through his hair. There it was, he thought, there was the first thing wrong with his poem. Though, admittedly, this was probably a lot nicer of a criticism of the story than he had been expecting. And, yeah, he agreed that the poem, as it was, was a bit too unfocused.
"Yeah," he nodded, "I'll make sure to work on that next time."
Now, Sayori handed him her poem. Quietly, he read over the words. The poem, from what he could tell, was about a person not wanting to wake up in the morning, but being coaxed out of bed by the warm, gentle promise of sunshine. The words were sweet and gentle, like Sayori herself. That was, until they hit the last line. The last line felt almost jarring in comparison to the rest of the poem, but also felt very true to Sayori as well.
"Sayori," he asked, "It's not bad, but did you write this before you came to school today?"
Sayori laughed nervously, pushing her fingertips together in a little triangle.
"Eheheh," she said, "Kinda. I forgot that we were supposed to write poems today, so I had to come up with something."
"Geez Sayori," Dan teased with a sigh, "And you give me hell about me being lazy sometimes. Just try a little harder next time, okay?"
"Heh," She laughed, nervously, "Well, next time I'll show you. I'm gonna write the best poem ever!"
She laughed, hopping on one foot as she punched the air, flashing an enthusiastic peace sign with a determined grin and a wink. Although he knew this kind of energy to be normal of Sayori, he couldn't help but feel like she was perhaps trying to be a bit too cheerful. Like she was putting on an act to make it seem like his simple light hearted jab at her hadn't bothered her as deeply as it seemed.
Hadn't they literally just talked about something like this less than five minutes ago?
Now that he and Sayori had exchanged poems, he figured that he should move on to the next person. Logically, he felt like that would be Natsuki. Though, he admitted, he also felt like she was going to be one of his toughest critics. She was easily very dead set on what she liked and disliked, that he was sure she'd be turned away by the darker undertones.
Natsuki frowned as she read the poem, her eyebrows furrowing as if she were having a hard time figuring out a few of the lines and was having to go back and re-read them. However, her expression wasn't outright displeased, so that had to be something, right?
"Ugh!," She groaned, "I would have been much more comfortable sharing my poem with you, if yours had been bad. Then I could have been like 'Here's how you really write a poem'. But then, you just had to go ruin it for me."
"What do you mean?"
"Ugh," she huffed, "Do I really gotta spell it out for you?"
"No," he said, "I just meant that it'd be nice if you gave a me a reason why you think it's bad, instead of just telling me that it is."
"I-I never," Natsuki said defensively "I never said that it was 'bad'. Or that I didn't like it, or anything. It's just that sounds like you were trying way too hard to do way too much. It just looks all messy and goes all over the place."
Dan bit his lip, subconsciously trying to prevent the immature and juvenile part of his brain from making an inappropriate joke. Thankfully, Natsuki didn't seem to notice or care as she handed it back to him, and then giving him her own poem.
She smirked proudly, her hands on her hips as he read, as if she believed that she had written the most clever poem ever. Her poem, he noted, was a very quick read, full of short words and sentences. But, it was those short, simple words that packed a powerful punch, managing to cut straight to the heart of the poem very quickly.
Dan looked at her, thinking of the right words to say that wouldn't accidentally make her feel like he either like the poem, or unintentionally make her feel self conscious. Unfortunately, in his indecision, he had been left staring far too long, which made the pigtailed girl start to feel antsy.
"D-Don't look at me like that!" she said, "Stop staring at me like a deer in the headlights and just tell me you don't like it."
"Hey now," Dan said, "I don't hate it. Actually, I kind of liked it. I liked how the poem used simple words to get it's point across, and sort of had a rhyme scheme going on until the last bit. It really made it clear the frustration the speaker feels."
Natsuki seemed momentarily taken aback, seeming to expect him to have laughed off the poem as something immature and childish.
"Y-yeah," she said, "Exactly!"
"Why were you so convinced I wouldn't like it," Dan asked.
"Well," she explained defensively, "Everyone in high school thinks that writing has to be all sophisticated and stuff. So, nobody even bothers taking my writing seriously. They just think it's kid's stuff."
Dan stroked his chin, thinking for a moment. Between this and their earlier conversation in the closet, Natsuki seemed very self-conscious of how people perceived her, and not just about her interest in manga. He couldn't help but admit that part of him sympathized with her. After all, it wasn't like he wasn't familiar with the idea of people judging him based on first impression alone.
He'd only been there a day, and part of him worried that the others club members already had built their own image of who he was and what he was going to be. And, while part of him feared that he wouldn't live up to their ideas, part of him also wanted to break those preconceived notions and let them get to know the real him.
"Isn't the whole point of poetry to express yourself?" Dan asked, "You shouldn't have to try to cater to what everyone else likes."
"Right," she agreed, "It's just that it's super disheartening seeing everyone around you being really good at stuff, while you're just stuck trying your best. That's what the poem's about, anyways. Besides, I like using simple words- it puts a lot more emphasis on the wordplay. Like how I set up that rhyme, but then it fails at the end. It helps bring out the feeling of the last line."
Dan whistled under his breath. That was actually really impressive, he admitted to himself. He had thought the poem was just simple and to the point, but there was a lot of meta subtext that one wouldn't easily pick up on unless they were paying attention. A lot more work went into this poem than he realized.
"Wow," he said, "That's really impressive. You really put a lot of thought into this poem."
Again, Natsuki smirked proudly squaring her shoulders as she tried to draw herself to full height. Even at her full height, the tiny girl barely even came up to Dan's chest. But, that was more due to the fact that Dan himself was practically a walking palm tree than it was with Natsuki's diminutive stature.
"Heh," she said, "I guess that's what it means to be a pro. I guess you could learn something from me, after all."
"Yeah," Dan said lightly, "It sounds like you really know what your talking about. I guess I underestimated you."
"Yeah," Natsuki beamed, but quickly found herself cut off, "I guess that I-Hey wait a minute! What's that supposed to mean?!"
"Um, nothing!" Dan said quickly, "Just that I just mean that haven't seen you at your full power, yet!"
Hurriedly, Dan walked over to Yuri as he noticed Sayori approaching Natsuki. Silently, he thanked Sayori for distracting her before she could chase after him and tackle him to the ground over that comment.
Several moments of silence passed between Dan and the purple haired young woman. Yuri's eyes seemed to dart everywhere but toward the space where Dan was currently standing. Clearing his throat, Dan handed her his paper.
Another long silence passed awkwardly as Yuri dissected his poem in her mind. Dan wondered if he should have just gone ahead and read her poem while he was waiting for her to say something. Instead, her bangs cascaded over her eyes, as she stared down, her breathing somewhat shallow.
"Um...Yuri?" he asked, "You doing okay there?"
"Ummm?" she gasped, suddenly snapping back to reality before clearing her throat, "Oh...yes. I'm fine. It's just that I was trying to articulate the words to describe this poem in my head."
"Well," Dan asked, "What did you think?"
"Um..." she began, twisting a strand of her long dark hair around her finger, "You don't really write poems like this all that often, do you?"
Dan's heart sank a little. He knew that she wouldn't like it. She probably thought it was amateurish and rifled with errors and missteps. He shouldn't have even bothered to show her his poem, he thought. Apparently, Yuri seemed to noticed his crestfallen frown, as a crimson blush heated her cheeks forcing her to look away from him.
"It's not that I think it's bad," she said, "Quite the opposite. I just feel like it has many of the same mistakes that new writers make when attempting an newer genre or style. It feels more that you were more concerned with experimenting with a new style that you didn't think through the subject as throughly as you could have."
Well, that was three for three so far on the point of his poem lacking focus. Yuri did have a point, though. Perhaps he was more focused on the fact that he wanted to write a poem that impressed someone that he didn't necessarily think about what he was writing itself.
Usually, though, he realized, this wasn't necessarily a problem when it came to the songs he wrote. But, those had all been ideas first before they had been written down onto paper. Here, it felt like he had had the poem first, and just tried to fit his ideas around it.
"Don't worry, though," she said, "Even I fell prone to these kinds of mistakes when I was starting out. As you write more and get more comfortable with the type of style your going for, it'll be easier for you to focus your work and figure out what works for you."
Dan heaved another sigh of relief. Eventhough it didn't seem that Natsuki was outwardly impressed by his style, her gentle attempts at reassurance did at least give him some hope that she might have somewhat liked it, or at the very least saw potential in his writing.
Nervously, he began to read hers. Unlike Sayori and Natsuki, Yuri seemed unable to maintain eye contact with him as he glanced down at the paper. The poem, from what he could tell, seemed to be about ghost. But, knowing the more elaborate writing style of Yuri, it was likely that it wasn't just about a ghost, but rather some sort of metaphysical concept or emotion.
"I'm sorry," Yuri apologized, "That my handwriting is terrible."
"It fine," Dan replied, "I didn't think that your handwriting was terrible at all."
"O-oh," Yuri said, "It's just that you took a long time to read it. I was worried that it was hard to read."
"Nah," Dan said, "It's just that I don't really read cursive all that often. It just took me a little while. Besides, I liked you're poem a lot! It was kind of short, but also super descriptive."
"You didn't think that it was too short did you?" she asked, "I usually write longer poems. But, I figured that since this was our first time sharing poems and everything, that something a little shorter would be easier on everyone."
Now that Yuri seemed to be on a subject that she felt much more at home with, she once again shed the timidness that surrounded her like a veil. She sat up straighter, her hands folded in front of her as she met Dan's gaze with an intense, focused stare. Her voice sounded clearer and louder as she stumbled over her words less and less. It was almost amazing to him that this was the same shy bookworm that he'd met in the club just yesterday. She seemed almost like a different person.
"So," Dan asked, "I don't want to sound stupid or anything, but is this poem about a ghost?"
"In a literal sense, yes." Yuri explained, " But the literal and the metaphorical aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. A single work can be viewed as both. On a metaphorical level, the subject of the poem is perhaps not actually a ghost, but rather is an individual who lingers in their last place of remaining comfort, unable to let go of the past. And soon, they might be left with nothing..."
Dan blinked, feeling a spine-chilling cold wash over him. That was pretty intense, he thought, and in a way kind of sad as well. But then, how could he have not seen that, he wondered. After all, the vivid imagery of the poem painted a portrait of sadness and comfort that seemed so real to him. Silently, he wondered if Yuri had wrote this poem from some sort of personal experience that happened in her life.
"That's a kind of solemn take on things," he said, "I hadn't even really looked at it that way. I'm impressed!"
"Well," Yuri smiled softly, "It's nothing really. I'm really glad that you think that, Danny. I'm sure it won't be long before you start picking up on these things as well, "
"Yeah," Dan agreed, "Your probably right. I guess I'll have to keep trying. Thanks Yuri!"
Yuri nodded. However, once more awkward silence had snaked its way between them. Now that there was nothing more to say about the poems, he found it increasingly difficult to start a new conversation with the shy, purple haired woman.
After a few moments of moving his mouth soundlessly, his words caught in his throat, he decided that it was probably time to move on to someone else. The only options left at this point where Monika and Arin. And in a way, he seemed pretty hesitant about showing his poem to either of them.
A coin toss decided that he should talk to Monika first. After all, she had seemed pretty eager about reading his poem. It wouldn't be fair to deny her that, even if the last three critiques had proved that it was an unfocused mess.
Monika smiled as he approached her. Her smile was like honey that had been left in the fridge for a few hours. It was sweet and smooth, but still lightly chilly. Not that it detracted from her beauty, he added. Actually, it seemed only to add to her mysterious charm.
"Hi, Danny," She said as she took the paper from his hand, "Having a good time so far?"
"Yeah," Dan nodded, giving a thumbs up "I'm having a great time!"
"That's good to hear," Monika replied, "Just remember that if you have any questions or any suggestions on how to make the club better, feel free to talk to me. I'm always listening. Don't be afraid to bring things up, okay?"
Dan nodded, as he handed her his paper. Monika expression became blank as her eyes almost robotically scanned the paper, only briefly hovering on a word or two here or there. Dan felt uncomfortably like he was back in middle school again, and that Monika was a teacher grading his homework, rather than his fellow classmate reading his poem.
Any moment now, he was expecting to see her pull a bright red sharpie pen out of her pocket and scrawl a giant "F" on the top of the paper before handing it back to him. Much to his surprise, she didn't.
Instead, she looked between him and the paper for a moment, as if making sure that the poem she had just read had actually been written by the lanky man in front of her. Soon, however, her smile returned to her.
"Wow," she said, "I'm very surprised, Danny."
"You are?"
"Yes, This is actually very good. I wasn't expecting this from you for your first time writing poems!"
"Eh," Dan chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck, "It's not really the first time that I've written anything. It's really just more like the first time that I've tried anything in this style before."
"Oh?" Monika asked, perking up, "That's interesting. I'd be very interesting to hear something written in your usual style."
"Ehh,..." Dan hesitated, "Maybe later. I'm not really comfortable with sharing that with anyone, yet."
"Ah," Monika replied, "Embarrassed, huh? Well, don't worry, Danny. We're all a little embarrassed about sharing our poems, especially today. It's just one of those barriers that we'll all eventually learn to get past soon."
"Still," Dan reminded her, "We still have a poem here to talk about."
"Right," Monika agreed, directing her focus back to the poem in her hand, "I do enjoy this poem. I like that it seems very juxtaposition of the more lighthearted words and the darker, more somber metaphors create a nice contrast with one another."
"So," Dan asked, "You don't think that it's a little too unfocused or ambitious do you?"
"Well," Monika said, "It is a little bit. But, that's not a bad thing. Here, I think it works really well. It gives the reader the feeling that the speaker themselves are unfocused, unsure of how to make sense of their conflicting thoughts and feelings, but still trying to make sense of it. Its up to them to decide for themselves what they believe is the truth and the right path for them to take."
The way she spoke about the poem seemed to strike a chord in Dan's mind. Although he had certainly not intended for that kind of meaning when he wrote, he wondered if perhaps something in his mind had subconsciously written things that way. It was weird, though. Both Sayori and Monika seemed to be reading deeper into his poem that he had intended anyone to.
He remembered hearing once, perhaps in class, about how an author's true intent becomes almost irrelevant in the eyes of the interpreter. That the author could have started out writing with one purpose, but ultimately, it's the audience's interpretation of that work that gives the poem it's meaning. He believed the phrase was called 'Death of the Author'.
But, he could be wrong.
"Umm...yeah," he said, not wanting to tell her that his poem was actual more random than she'd read it as, "I guess that's one way of looking at it."
Monika laughed, putting Dan at ease once more. So far, he realized, he was having a much easier time with her critiques than he had expected. He was sure that she would have laughed him out of the clubroom and locked the door behind him.
"Still," she thought aloud, "I don't know if you've showed this to Arin yet or not. It seems like the kind of thing that he would enjoy."
"What makes you say that," Dan wondered.
"Well," Monika replied, "It's just that it's very experimental, and seems like the type of poem from a writer whose style is constantly changing. Arin seems like the type that's constantly trying to try new things with his style, and trying to vary up his subject matter. Granted, that does make him seem a little inconsistent at times. But, it's sort of a good thing to be unpredictable and to challenge your readers."
Dan nodded in agreement, rubbing his chin. He could definitely see where she was coming from. Although, he admitted, there was some value to having a style that one was comfortable with, it was also a good idea to branch out and to experiment, too keep from becoming too stale and formulaic.
"Well," Monika continued, handing him her poem, "I guess you should probably read mine, now."
As Dan's eyes traveled along the paper, processing the neatly written words on the paper, he felt himself overcome with a sense of cold dread. Nothing about the poem should have unsettled him-it wasn't scary or dark like Yuri's was.
And yet, it did.
It was like he could almost feel the confusion and fear of the subject looking through the hole. He felt like they shouldn't have been looking through that hole-that he knew what was on the other side, and that he was never meant to know if it's existence.
He felt his mouth go dry, his words caught somewhere between being thoughts and verbal sounds. It felt like all he could do was stare stupidly at Monika as she expectantly awaited his response. Loudly, he cleared his throat, as the discomfort in the back of his mind started to fade, allowing him to think more clearly.
"It's very freeform," he began, though he felt like this wasn't a very strong point to start on. He could have at least told her if he liked it or not.
Thankfully, Monika didn't seem to notice. Or at least was too polite to address it.
"Yeah," She replied, "That kind of style has started to become very popular lately. That is to say, a lot of poems have been putting emphasis on timing and spacing between words and lines. When read out loud, it can be very powerful.
"So," Dan asked, though part of him secretly feared the answer, "What gave you the idea for this poem?"
Monika giggled once more. Although her laugh sounded as sweet as it always had, Dan could have sworn that there was a faint note of hollowness and desperation behind it. But, he reasoned, that was probably just his imagination playing tricks on him, as usual.
"Well, I guess you could say that I had a sort of epiphany recently," she explained, "It's kind of been influencing a lot of my writing lately."
He could definitely tell. It certainly seemed like the kind of poem one would write following a startlingly realization, he thought. But, he wondered exactly what kind of realization Monika had had that influenced this poem?
"I'm kind of nervous to talk about deep things like that," Monika continued, "Because it's kind of coming on strongly. Maybe after everyone's better friends with everyone, I'll be able to talk more about it."
Dan said nothing, able to do little more than silently agree with her. Although his sense of dread had faded, the mild sense of ease and discomfort didn't immediately seem to fade with it. At the moment, he was secretly glad that Monika decided not to elaborate any further on her epiphany. He wasn't sure that he could handle something that deep at the moment.
"Anyways," she continued in a singsong voice, "Here's Monika's Writing Tip of the Day: When writing, whether it be a poem or a story, you can often find yourself fixated on a certain point. When that happens, try to force yourself to keep writing and move on to the next point. If you try to focus on making things perfect, you might find yourself with your pen hovering and leaving dark puddle of ink all over the paper."
He couldn't help but feel that sense of unease finally managing to fade completely, allowing him to breathe normally once more. Monika's daily writing tip, while odd, at least put him in a better mood.
Having now finished his critique session with Monika, the only person left to talk to was Arin. Patiently, Dan waited as Arin and Yuri finished discussing each other's poems. Although he couldn't hear what either of them were saying, he could tell by the way that Yuri smiled that Arin seemed to have at least somewhat enjoyed her poem. He probably had been better at picking up on the metaphors behind it anyways, Dan guessed.
"'Morning, Dan" Arin smiled warmly as Dan approached him. Dan paused, quirking a confused eyebrow at the other man.
"Dude," Dan said, "It's afternoon..."
"Yeah," Arin shrugged lightly, "But, aren't you supposed to say 'Good Morning' when someone just wakes up?"
"What the hell," Dan asked, even more confused, "are you even talking about, Arin?'
"Well," Arin continued, seemingly perturbed by his friend's confusion, "You fell asleep in class today, didn't you?"
"How did you-?"
For the second time today, Dan felt his blood run cold. How had Arin known that he'd accidentally dozed off in the middle of class today? He and Arin were in completely different classes from each other, and hadn't even really had a chance to talk to each other until a few minutes ago.
"Oh?" Arin joked, leaning forward, dramatically wiggling his fingers in front of Dan's face, "Didn't I tell you? I'm psychic! I know everything!"
Dan frowned, but breathed a silent sigh of relief. So, Arin was just joking with him. That was good. But still-how had he known about that, he wondered.
"Okay, smartass," Dan joked, "If you're psychic, prove it."
"Sure," Arin replied, accepting the challenge, "Let's see. Your birthday is March 14th, your favorite color is blue, and 'Daniel' is actually your middle name, not your first name, but everyone's been calling you by that since you were a kid. Does that do anything for you?"
Dan stared at him wide-eyed and pale, caught between impressed awe and frightened terror. Maybe there was some nugget of truth to Arin's joke about being a psychic after all. The other man smirked, adjusting his glasses and folding his arms behind his head, obviously amused by Dan's awe.
"Whoa..." Dan breathed.
"Heh," Arin confessed with a chuckle, "Okay, I'll admit it; I lied. Sayori actually told me all that. She's also the one who told me about you falling asleep in class."
Dan groaned, lightly shoving Arin in the arm. Of course, he sighed, he should have known that Arin was just fucking with him. Besides, it wasn't like he believed in stuff like astrology or psychics. He was barely even sure if he believed in the concept of fate or destiny.
"Sayori talks about you a lot," Arin added, "A lot of nice things, though. She really cares a lot about you, you know."
"Yeah," Dan said, his expression softening as he glanced over at Sayori, sharing her poem with Monika "Sayori and I have been friends ever since we were kids. I mean, I guess that if we'd became friends nowadays, we wouldn't be the type of people who'd we see making friends with each other, and she can be a bit annoying at times. But, we've been through a lot together. And, I dunno, I guess we kind of care about each other."
Dan barely noticed as Arin's expression clouded with a troubled look, silently shaking his head. Carefully, Arin balanced his chin on his folded hands. His brown eyes closed, and his lips slightly parted as if in silent prayer. The other man couldn't help but vaguely wonder if he had perhaps accidentally sparked something in Arin's memory, forcing him to recall a less than pleasant part of his past.
"Are you okay, dude?" Dan asked,, "I didn't say something to upset you or anything, did I?"
Arin loudly coughed as he snapped out of his introspective meditation. Embarrassed, the absently shuffled a few loose papers on his desk as a faint pink blush painted his cheeks.
"Oh," he said, adjusting his glasses, "Uh...I'm fine. Yeah, I was just letting my mind wander off. I'm totally cool now."
Dan, although still not fully convinced, decided not to push any further. Whatever had brought about that sudden mood change in Arin wasn't his business. For now, it was just best to accept that, and just trust that if and when Arin felt comfortable enough to talk about it, he would.
"Anyways," Arin continued, "We probably should be reading each other's poems, right? I mean, that's why we're here, right?"
The two men exchanged papers with one another and began reading. Dan's eyes followed the poem, a short, simple and straightforward poem entitled "A Friend":
-A Friend-
A friend is someone you want to be around.
Lazy afternoons and long nights spent playing videogames,
Laughing as you make silly jokes and read the lines in funny voices,
Sharing stories of days past as we snuggle close.
Everyday with them still feels as exciting as the first time you met.
And yet as comfortable as if you've known them for a thousand lifetimes.
A friend should be someone who has your back.
A shoulder to cry on when you're sad.
A listening ear when you need to rant.
A pair of eyes to see through a veil that they might not see.
A calming voice to say the things that need to be said.
Someone who'd do whatever it took to make you better.
Even if they don't know what that is yet.
Thankfully, unlike with Monika's poem, Dan didn't feel a vague sense of existential dread and unease when reading this. In fact, Arin's poem seemed almost comfortable, like wearing an oversized shirt that one had managed to break-in in just the right way.
And yet, for reasons he couldn't quite place, he couldn't help but read a faint note of sadness and regret behind the poem. Maybe the fact that everyone else's poems had been a bit more downbeat and melancholic had colored his perception of this poem. Or perhaps,he wondered, was this poem maybe inspired by whatever it was in Arin's past that haunted him?
Dan was more inclined to believe the it was the former, rather than the latter.
But at the same time, the last lines made the poem seem almost hopeful. Like, somehow the speaker believed he'd messed up their friendship with someone, and knew it, but was determined to make things better.
He had to have been looking too deeply into this, he thought. After all, it was just a straightforward poem about friendships wasn't it?
As he looked up, he saw Arin staring at him with a puzzled expression. Definitely not the first time his poem had produced that expression, Dan thought to himself.
"So," Arin asked, "Which one of us should go first?"
"I guess I could go first," Dan said, shrugging, "Okay...so, like, it kind or reminds me a little bit of Natsuki's style, but a little more complex, I guess? I like how changing one word, and using " A friend should" instead of "A friend is" in the second half kind of shifts the entire focus a little bit. Like, there's a bit of a story going on with the speaker and the subject that we're not seeing, but the reader themselves is separated enough from the story that all they can do is just draw their own conclusions as to what's going on."
"I mean, I guess you could look at it that way," Arin replied, "I just thought I was being pretty straightforward with it, though. It's kind of funny, since you were talking all about how you and Sayori are friends, but I wrote this poem about a friend who was special to me, too."
"Was?"
Once more, Arin's eyes clouded over, his expression faraway and remorseful, dangerously close to wandering too deep into thought again.
"It's a complicated matter," Arin sighed, "It's just-look, a lot of bad things happened because of me, okay? I don't really want to talk about it, yet. I don't think you'd really understand."
Dan almost swore that he heard the other man mutter something under his breath. But the words were spoken too softly for anyone but Arin to hear. So, the mystery thickens, Dan thought to himself. He wondered if perhaps Arin had transferred schools in attempt at a fresh start; to free himself of the perceived sins of his past?
"Anyways," Arin said, "I guess I should probably talk about your poem now, right?"
"That would probably be a good place to start," Dan snarked, "But if everyone else's critique is to go by, then there's really only so many ways I can hear that my poem was too unfocused and tried to do too much."
"Well geez," Arin laughed, jokingly being upset "Now you've just taken all the fun out of this. Now I gotta spend five seconds coming up with something else to say. Five whole seconds Dan! Do you know what I could have been doing in five seconds?! I could have spent that time taking a shit or something. But no, I gotta be sitting here in this literature club, while you go on and make my critiques for me."
Against his better judgment, Dan couldn't help but laugh. There was just something in the purposefully over-exaggerated way that Arin was pretending to rant at tickled the other man, causing him clutch is stomach and rock backwards-a usual occurance for him when someone made him laugh too hard. The other man seemed to have noticed this as a grin came over his face, and his fake rant became even more over-the-top and nonsensical.
Finally, the two collapsed into a fit of breathless laughter, practically leaning in on each other. Dan's face was buried in Arin's shoulder, while Arin put his arm around Dan's shoulder, giving him a one-armed hug.
"Um...anyways," Arin cleared his throat, as the two pulled away, resuming the friendly but formal air between them, "Yeah, about your poem. Like, I do get where everyone's coming from on what they said. And, I could totally see where it could work in this poem. But, I dunno...it's just..."
"What?"
"Well," Arin said, "It kind of comes off like you were aiming to impress someone, and it doesn't really come off sounding like you. Which, okay-might not be a bad thing, exactly. Like, if want to write something for someone, or about someone, that's cool. And it's usually a pretty good idea to take honest criticisms and make changes over something when needed. That's not what I'm talking about. It's more like, you should also remember that your own voice and opinons matter, too. And you shouldn't force yourself to be something your not, just because you think it'll impress someone."
Again, Dan agreed. Though, admittedly, he wasn't exactly sure that he would say that that was what he'd set out to do. But, then again he admitted, reading back over his poem, this poem really didn't sound like anything that he actually would have written, did it? Sure, he'd argue that his focus was a little varied; he had just as many semi-angsty songs about serious subjects as he did light, bouncy jams about goofy topics.
But, reading back over his poem, he could kind of see where Arin was coming from.
"Besides," Arin continued, "Writing for yourself can be a pretty interesting experience. You might discover something about yourself that you never realized. Or you could bring up some old memories that you might have forgotten about."
He wasn't sure why, but he found that last part both odd and strikingly true. He couldn't believe the many times that he'd sat down to write even the goofiest song, and suddenly started recalling random things he'd thought about once when he was younger, or some daydream he'd thought he'd completely forgotten about.
A few more minutes had passed, as Arin and Dan finished sharing their poems with one another. Now that he had shared his poem with everyone, Dan figured he'd just sort of wander around the classroom and chill, waiting for everyone else to finish sharing their poems with each other, or for Monika to signal the end of today's activities.
He noticed that he wasn't the only one who was sitting around waiting. Monika, Sayori and Arin all stood around, patiently trying to make idle small talk with one another, as they waited for Natsuki and Yuri to finish sharing thier poems with one another.
Unfortunately, that seemed like it would take a lot longer than expected. Natsuki's eyes narrowed as she read over Yuri's poem. Likewise, it seemed that Yuri was equally confused by Natsuki's poem, hiding it behind a sad, disappointed smile.
"What's with this language?" he heard Natsuki mutter under her breath.
"Eh?" Yuri asked, looking up from her paper, "Did you say something?"
"Oh," Natsuki replied, dismissively returning Yuri's paper to her, "It's nothing. I guess that you could say it's fancy."
"Ah," Yuri mumbled, "T-thanks. Yours is...cute, I guess."
Natsuki's glare deepened. Oh no, Dan thought sighing to himself as he shared a look with the others. This was gonna turn into a repeat of the argument between Arin and Monika that happened at the beginning of the meeting, wasn't it?
"Cute?" Natsuki snapped, "Did you completely miss the symbolism or something? It's clearly about the feeling of giving up. How is that cute?!"
"I-I know that," Yuri stammered, tripping over her own words "I just meant...the language, I guess. I was trying to say something nice."
"Eh?" Natsuki put her hands on her hips, "You mean you have to try that hard to think of something nice to say? Thanks, but it didn't really come out nice at all."
"Um," Yuri continued, "Well, I do have a couple suggestions that might help."
"Hmph," Natsuki replied, crossing her arms, "If I was asking for suggestions, I would have asked someone who actually liked it. Which people did, by the way! Sayori liked it. And Arin liked it. And Danny did too! Based on that, I'll gladly give you some suggestions of my own! First of all-"
Yuri's eyes narrowed, as her posture became less withdrawn and more assertive. She was like a snake that reared back, poised to strike. Natsuki, likewise, seemed relentless, confident in her own abilities.
"Excuse me," Yuri responded, curtly, "I appreciate your offer. But, I spent a long time developing my writing style, and I don't see myself changing it anytime soon, unless I come across something particularly inspiring."
She elegantly flipped her long, violet hair as she motioned toward where Dan and the others stood.
"And," she added, "Danny liked my poem as well, you know."
The petite, pink haired girl smirked, standing up her hands back on her hips looking triumphantly as if she'd just figured everything out.
"Oh," she replied, "I didn't realize you were so invested in trying to impress our new member, Yuri."
Yuri's blush deepened from a cherry-blossom pink, to a cherry red. All semblance of elegant composure that she had pretended to have had melted like a snowman in an oven.
"T-that's not," She replied, flustered, "That's not what I-"
Yuri made a noise as she stood up as well.
"Maybe you're just jealous," Yuri continued sharply, "That Danny appreciated my advice more than he appreciated yours!"
Exasperated, Dan ran his fingers through his hair. They'd literally given him the exact same advice. There was literally no need for either of them to be fighting over him. Just because he was the new guy, didn't mean that they had to take everything he said so seriously.
"Hmph," Natsuki replied, stamping her foot, "How do you know he appreciated your advice more?! Are you really that full of yourself?"
Yuri was angry. Her eyes narrowed into a cold icy stare that felt as if it made the temperature in the room drop a couple degrees. Clearly, the shorter girl had said too much, and Yuri was not going to let her stand by and talk like that.
"Well," Yuri replied coldly, "If I were trying to be full of myself. I would try to go out of my way to deliberately make everything I do overly cutesy."
Now, Natsuki was the one who was beyond angry. She made a high pitched, angry growl, like an angry puppy as she clenched her fist. Dan swallowed nervously. Natsuki was really going to punch Yuri in the face, wasn't she?
Helplessly, he shot a panicked glance at Arin, as if asking him to step in and try to intervene. Arin, however, seemed about as lost as Dan did. Likewise, it seemed that Monika was also at a loss for words. None of them wanted to be the first to step into this argument, and risk having their limbs torn off by either girl.
However, it was Sayori who decided to make the first move, stepping in between Yuri and Natsuki.
"Ummm..." Sayori asked, chuckling nervously, "Is everyone okay?"
But she might as well have been asking that question to a brick wall, as that neither girl payed any attention to her as they continued arguing.
"Well," Natsuki said, "You know what?! I'm not the one who's boobs magically grew two sizes when the boys joined the club! Especially not after Danny joined!"
Yuri's face was almost as purple as her hair. Absently, she adjusted her grey jacket, trying unsuccessfully to cover herself.
"Natsuki!" she yelped, "A-are you implying that I stuff my bra?!"
"Umm, Natsuki," Monika said nervously, now making an attempt to break up the fight, "That's a little-"
Both of the feuding girls now turned their attention to the Club President, glaring at her like a pack of wild wolves.
"This doesn't involve you!" they snapped, almost in unison.
Monika sighed defeatedly, taking a step back to let the rest of the fight unfold without her interference Well, at least she had tried.
"Please don't fight!" Sayori cried suddenly, "I don't like when you guys fight!"
"Guys," Arin added, "Seriously, knock it off! This is getting way too out of hand!"
Suddenly, both Natsuki and Yuri turned toward Dan, as if they'd just realized that he was standing there. Dan felt a creeping sense of dread and panic wash over him as he found himself trapped between the two girls.
He really didn't want to get involved in this. But, they weren't gonna give him a choice were they?
"Danny!" Yuri whined, "S-she's just trying to make me look bad!"
"That's not true!" Natsuki protested, "She started it! If she could get over herself and learn to appreciate that simple writing is more effective, then none of this would have happened in the first place! What's the point of making your poems all convoluted with no reason, anyways? The reader shouldn't have to be forced to figure out the meaning; it should be able to jump out at them! Danny, help me explain that to her!"
"Wait," Yuri countered, "There's a reason we have so many deep and expressive words in our language. It's the only way to convey complex feelings and abstract thoughts effectively. Avoiding them not only unnecessarily limits yourself, but is also very wasteful! You understand that, right, Danny?"
Dan wished for nothing more than to flee the clubroom and hide someplace a little quieter. It was a little difficult for him to take sides on this disagreement, he admitted. On one hand, he understood perfectly where both girls were coming from in this argument. But at the same time, he didn't want to upset either one of them or make them feel like their opinion was invalid by agreeing with the other one.
Nervously, Dan looked to Sayori. She usually knew what to say to make things better. Though, judging by how the other two girls had ignored her earlier, he wasn't sure that it either one of them were going to listen to her.
"Umm..." Dan began, "Ahh! All of your fighting is making Sayori really uncomfortable! How can you two keep fighting when you know you're making your friend feel like this?!"
"Danny..." Sayori breathed, unsure of what to say.
"Well," Natsuki huffed, "that her problem, isn't it? This isn't about her."
"I agree," Yuri said, "It's unfair for others to inject their own feelings into our conflict."
Dan sighed. That seemed kind of hypocritical, didn't it? They didn't want Sayori injecting her feelings into their arguement, but both of them were perfectly fine asking for him to take sides?
"Yeah," Natsuki agreed, "Unless Sayori want's to tell Yuri that she's being a stuck up jerk, like she's being."
"She would never!" Yuri protested, "It's your immaturity that made her upset in the first place!"
Seriously, Dan wondered, were they now really arguing about who made Sayori upset?
"Excuse me?" Natsuki asked, the anger rising again in her voice, "Are you listening to yourself? This is exactly why nobody-"
Before Natsuki could finish that sentence with something hurtful to say, they were interrupted as Sayori slammed her hand down on the desk. A ringing silence filled the air as everyone looked at Sayori, the corners of her blue eyes glimmering with tears.
"STOP IT!" Sayori cried, "Natsuki! Yuri! You guys are my friends! I-I just want my friends to get along and be happy!"
The two girls exchanged glances with one another as Sayori choked back a sob.
"My friends are wonderful people!" she continued, "And I love them because of how different everyone is! Natsuki's poems are amazing because they use so few words to give so many feelings. And Yuri's poems are great because they manage to paint really vivid, beautiful pictures in your head! Everyones so talented! So, why are we fighting?!"
The other two girls were at a loss for words, stumbling through half-formed excuses to justify their argument. But, under Sayori's friendly, pleading gaze, they found that none of their excuses held water.
"That's right," Arin added, "Everyone's got their own style, you know. Just because it's different than someone else's doesn't make it invalid. It's like with art; just because one person's doing a realistic painting and someone else is doing a stylized digital drawing, doesn't mean that the same amount of thought didn't go into making them."
"Also," Sayori continued, her face brightening, "Natsuki is cute and there's nothing wrong with that! And Yuri's boobs are the same as they've always been; big and beautiful!"
Dan facepalmed. Way to completely stick the landing and totally not make things awkward, Sayori, he thought to himself with a groan. Next to him, he heard Arin stifle an amused laugh.
Sayori stood triumphantly. Behind her, Monika stood with a bewildered expression on her face.
"I-I'll make some tea," Yuri said finally, a tiny, shy smile coming across her face as she left the classroom.
Natsuki sat down, a blank expression on her face, as if not entirely sure how to process what just happened.
"So," Dan whispered to Monika, "This is why Sayori is Vice-President, huh?"
"Yeah," Monika replied, "To be honest. I might come off as a good leader, and I can organize things pretty well. But, I'm not very good with people. I couldn't even bring myself to interject. As President, that's kind of embarrassing, isn't it?"
"Nah," Dan replied, "It's not like I was really able to say anything, either."
"I guess," Monika said, "That that just means that Sayori is amazing in her own way, isn't she?"
"Yeah," Dan agreed, "You could say that. I mean, she might be kind of an airhead, but it's kind of weird that she sometimes seems to know exactly what she's doing."
"I see," Monika said "Take good care of her, okay? I would hate to see her get herself hurt."
"That makes two of us," Dan agreed, "Don't worry, I'll do what I can."
Monika smiled sweetly at him, and once more he felt a knot in his chest. Such a genuine and caring person, he thought, really did make a good club president, regardless of what she might think of herself. If only he could have gotten the chance to talk to her a little more. And still, that quiet note of discomfort, like a piano key that was slightly off tune, played in the back of his mind.
"Okay everyone," Monika said, resuming her officious tone, "It's just about time to leave. How did everyone like sharing their poems?"
"It was a lot of fun," Sayori replied enthusiastically
"Well," Natsuki replied with an indifferent shrug, "It was okay, I guess."
"I'd say it was worth it," Yuri agreed.
"All except for that last part," Arin said, "It was pretty good."
"Yeah," Dan nodded, "It was a pretty cool thing to talk about with everyone."
Monika seemed pleased. Clapping her hands together, she beamed at the group, delighted that her suggestion had turned out to be such a good idea.
"Awesome," she said, "In that case, we'll do the same thing tomorrow, too! And maybe you learned something from everyone, so tommorrow's poems will be even better!"
Dan, once more, nodded in agreement, thinking back on the previous events. He had definitely learned at lot during the critique session. While he still wanted to attempt to at least appeal to one of the other club members, he figured that he'd try to do it more in something that felt his own style.
After a few moments, Yuri and Natsuki had left the club room. Dan decided to hang around a little longer as he idly began jotting down notes and ideas for his next poem, when Sayori approached him.
"Hey, Danny!" she said cheerfully.
"Hey, Sayori," he replied, "Uh...listen, about earlier?"
"What about earlier?" Sayori's eyebrows knitted in confusion.
"With Natsuki and Yuri fighting," Dan asked, "Does that happen very often?"
"No, no, no no!" Sayori shook her head, "That's really the first time that I've really seen either of them get like that! I promise they're both wonderful people."
"What about Arin and Monika," Dan asked, "They don't fight like that very often, either, do they?"
"Oh," Sayori explained, "Not really. I mean, they disagree a lot. And I wouldn't exactly call what they had a fight so much as Arin just standing up for Natsuki. Everyone's usually really great friends."
Dan breathed a sigh of relief. Well, it was good to know that these kinds of conflicts weren't as common as today had made him believe. Still, he couldn't help but feel bothered by that. Was it just because it was their first time sharing poems that had brought out this tension in everyone? Or was it Dan's mere presence in the club that had put everyone on edge?
"You don't," Sayori asked quietly, "Hate them do you?"
"What?" Dan asked, startled, "Not at all! I just wanted your opinion, that's all. I mean, seeing as you've been in the club a lot longer than I have, I figured that you'd probably have a better idea how everyone usually acts and everything. I can see why they make good friends with you."
Sayori sighed in relief, wiping her forehead.
"You know, Danny," she said, her expression softening, "It's nice that we get to spend so much time together, now. We haven't really done that in a long time, have we? But, I think seeing you get along with everyone makes me the happiest. And I think everyone really likes you, too!"
"That's-" Dan started, but was cut off by Sayori's warm laugh.
"Everyday is gonna be so much fun," She said, throwing her arms around his neck.
Once more, Dan thought to himself, it seemed like Sayori was abosolutely oblivious to the kind of situation he was in. Sure, he could see himself being friends with everyone in the club.
But, he wondered if it would really stop there. Did one of the club members possibly have a crush on him? And what would happen if one of them did possibly confess to him-would he find himself falling in love with one of them, or would he be happy just being friends?
"So," Dan said, "Are you ready to walk home?"
"Ummm..." Sayori replied reluctantly, "Well, Monika and I were going to stay after to discuss some plans for the school festival. I mean, you can wait for me, if you want, but it might take a while."
Dan gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder. He felt bad that they wouldn't be able to walk home with Sayori like she wanted to do. But, on the other hand, he was sure they'd have plenty of opportunities to walk to and from school together that missing one day wouldn't be the end of the world.
He was about to say something, when Arin walked up beside him. He seemed nervous about something, Dan noticed, constantly shooting glances over his shoulder as if he were afraid of someone listening in on him. Or that he was afraid that Dan and Sayori would make fun of him or something.
"Hey," Arin said, "I couldn't help but overhearing. I was thinking that maybe-if he wanted to, y'know-Dan and I could hang out with each other while he waits. That way, he won't have to get bored waiting for you alone or anything, and you guys could still walk home together. I mean, only if Dan is cool with that and everything."
Dan's expression became contemplative as he thought over his options. Part of him sort of wanted to go straight home and start reading that manga that Natsuki had given him, as well as try to get a start on that poem he was supposed to be writing for tomorrow's meeting. On the other hand, it did mean that he'd get a little more time to hang out and get to know the mysterious transfer student he knew so little about.
"Sure, I guess I wouldn't mind," Dan shrugged, "What do you think Sayori?"
Sayori's eyes clouded with an undefinable emotion as she bit her lip, as if torn between two conflicting thoughts. Finally, she sighed, looking up at Arin with a small smile.
"Sure," She said, "I mean, I guess that would be okay. I'll meet you outside the school, later, okay?"
Sayori smiled, or at least, seemed to wear a smile as she walked away, heading toward Monika's desk. From her desk, the Club President flashed them one of her usual sweet smiles as she waved to the two men who passed her.
"Have a good night," she said, "And don't forget to bring a poem for tomorrow's meeting!"
Dan shivered at the sound of her polite, enthusiastic goodbye. For a flash of a moment, he swore that he saw a glint of something devilish and cunning as her eyes fell on Arin, making them appear more sinister and fox-like than he ever recalled them looking. Her smile, though sweet, seemed tinged with a sharp venom that could burn through skin.
Something told him that Monika and Arin might not have truly gotten over this afternoon's fight as quickly as Natsuki and Yuri had gotten over theirs.
He just hoped that, for the sake of the club, they'd be able to settle their differences before someone got hurt.